After school, he worked for his uncle who had a real estate business.[1] In 1968, he started his own real estate company, Goldman Properties.[2]

In 1976, Goldman was attracted to the historic cast-iron architecture of Manhattan neighborhood south of Houston Street and decided to invest and rehabilitate buildings in the area. He bought and renovated 18 buildings in the area and opened restaurants to attract young people to the neighborhood.[4]

While attending a conference in Miami in 1985, Goldman toured the neglected art deco buildings of Miami Beach with historic preservationists. Seeing the potential of the city, he began buying one building a month for 18 months. [4]

Although other properties in the area were already being rehabilitated[4], it has been said that "Tony was the central person in getting South Beach going."[1]

By the mid-2000s, Goldman began buying buildings in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, another neglected area where he saw potential. He worked with art dealer Jeffrey Deitch to launch Wynwood Walls, a large permanent collection of outdoor murals. He also opened a restaurant and performance studio to help generate interest in the area.[5]

Goldman was also responsible for the launching of the Bowery Mural, an outdoor exhibition space in New York City on a wall located on the corner of Houston Street and the Bowery.

In 1966, Goldman married Janet Ehrlich,[4] a schoolteacher; they had two children: Jessica Goldman Srebnick and Joey Goldman.[1] The couple divorced in 1977 but later remarried in 1986.[1] Goldman died from heart failure on September 11, 2012, at age 68, in New York City.[1] Services were held at Temple Emanu-El in Miami Beach, Florida.[1] His daughter succeeded him as CEO of Goldman properties.[1]

When he was in his 50s, he reunited with his biological parents, Shirley and Ray Meyers, who had married after Ray's deployment during World War II. He has two biological brothers and one sister.[1]